SOT : Syncing Appts with Spouse

SOT : Syncing Appts with Spouse

12-02-2002, 12:23 PM

I hope you don't mind my Slightly Off Topic post. I wish to sync appointments that I share with my husband via beaming from my PDA to his PDA. Can this be done without loading memory hogging Datebk5? If so, how?

Or should I just stick with creating the appts in MS Outlook and sending him an invitation?

Comment

There was an application I read about called "WeSync" that was made for the type of sharing you describe. Try searching the web to see if it's still available.

I tried WeSync -- briefly -- with my assistant; my spouse is unwilling to go electronic, so that wasn't an option there. Unfortunately, WeSync pulled the plug. They are no longer allowing new signups, and they are apparently no longer supporting existing users of that function. I'm wondering if they're planning to re-launch a similar service as a subscription service (WeSync, as originally configured, was a free service).

I really liked the idea. Seemed to work pretty well, too. Here's hoping it will be revived in some form. I think Palm, Inc. bought WeSync, so it didn't die because it was owned by some small outfit with inadequate resources to keep it alive.

Comment

My husband and I cannot exist peacefully without DualDate. My schedule changes radically from day today depending on clients; and since my cell phone is for my convenience (meaning I don't turn it on when I'm with clients), we share calendars every night, just as I hotsync every night.

Comment

Have you checked the Palm website for the free version of DualDate? It will hold two calendars in your Palm and you can keep each others schedules that way.

If you can't find it, let me know and I can e-mail a copy to you.

Gordon

The problem for me is that, as I understand it, DualDate requires that both people use a Palm. I live by my Palm, but my wife is practically hostile to the idea of using one (and I have an "extra" Palm Vx she could have for free -- it's not like we have to go out and buy anything new). She swears by the big paper calendar hanging inside the pantry door in the kitchen -- in her view, if it's not on that calendar, it's not happening (and if it IS on that calendar, it's my fault for not checking!).

So, we have a high tech vs. low tech clash of cultures. DualDate doesn't look like it would help, and my only hope with WeSync was that I could convince her to look at (and add things to) a calendar on the computer because she's on the computer every day for various projects she's got going.

Any suggestions -- either on tools, or on dealing with my anti-tech spouse -- would be greatly appreciated!

Comment

My anti-tech spouse refuses to give up the household calendar. So I was having trouble because some appointments would be on the paper calendar and they weren't making it to my palm. I would get a call at work from my husband..."Did you know you had a doctor's appointment today? See, what good is that dumb Palm!"

Frustration, frustration frustration. What to do...

So simple for me really, I added a step to my weekly review. Get household calendar, go into outlook, reconcile the two. Put household calendar back, hot sync, and I am ready to go. An extra step I tried to avoid by getting my husband comfortable with Outlook. But what the heck, if you can't beat em, join em!

Comment

I live by my Palm, but my wife is practically hostile to the idea of using one (and I have an "extra" Palm Vx she could have for free -- it's not like we have to go out and buy anything new). She swears by the big paper calendar hanging inside the pantry door in the kitchen -- in her view, if it's not on that calendar, it's not happening (and if it IS on that calendar, it's my fault for not checking!).

Well, it sounds to me like the calendar hanging inside the pantry door is an "inbox" for you-- to be processed just like the tray on your desk. Each day, I would check to see if there is anything new in the next 7-14 days, and make sure that it is on my PDA. This would probably take about 30 seconds to a minute each day or 2, and would make the spousal unit happier... seems like a no-brainer.

You can't force people to use a PDA or a computer for things. This is something I have had trouble coming to grips with myself-- I am a very tech-savvy user. (Indeed, I write software for a living.) Learning that I can't expect everyone to use the same tools that I do, even though it would be easier for everyone involved, has made my relationships with employees, collegues, and yes, even my wife, better.

--- JRJ

Comment

I live by my Palm, but my wife is practically hostile to the idea of using one (and I have an "extra" Palm Vx she could have for free -- it's not like we have to go out and buy anything new). She swears by the big paper calendar hanging inside the pantry door in the kitchen -- in her view, if it's not on that calendar, it's not happening (and if it IS on that calendar, it's my fault for not checking!).

Well, it sounds to me like the calendar hanging inside the pantry door is an "inbox" for you-- to be processed just like the tray on your desk. Each day, I would check to see if there is anything new in the next 7-14 days, and make sure that it is on my PDA. This would probably take about 30 seconds to a minute each day or 2, and would make the spousal unit happier... seems like a no-brainer.

You can't force people to use a PDA or a computer for things. This is something I have had trouble coming to grips with myself-- I am a very tech-savvy user. (Indeed, I write software for a living.) Learning that I can't expect everyone to use the same tools that I do, even though it would be easier for everyone involved, has made my relationships with employees, collegues, and yes, even my wife, better.

--- JRJ

All very helpful thoughts. Here's how I've started trying to implement some of the suggestions. I do my weekly reviews on Friday afternoons from 2:00 to 3:00 pm. Last night, to have my ducks in a row for the weekly review today, I got out my notebook computer, put it on the dining room table and fired it up. I took my wife's paper calendar (actually two of them now, because we've got the 2002 AND 2003 calendars hanging in the pantry right now) and sat down with them and the Palm Desktop software and went through to make sure everything on the paper calendars was on my Palm Desktop calendar, and to make sure I'd entered on the paper calendars (for my wife's benefit) anything from my Palm calendar she needs to know about.

It so happens that last night my wife was also at the dining room table helping my 11-year-old son finish up some homework, so it provided an opportunity to do a little catching up on things with my wife. I could review my calendar and lists and say "Oh, did you reschedule X," or "Do you want to do Y? How about Saturday?" So it provided me with a chance to do a little pre-review planning with my wife, to go over our respective lists (though many of her lists are still in her head!), etc.

So, it accomplished the results I needed, helped me get ducks in a row for my weekly review, and provided some quality, low stress planning and discussion time for me and my wife (and our son, who chimed in as well). Even my 15-year-old daughter, who was in another room working on her computer on school stuff, heard what we were doing and came out to add some things to our calendars and discuss a project she and a couple of other kids at school are doing together (and which is now going to be done at our house). Advanced the balls on a lot of fronts.

So it looks like Thursday evening will provide a good opportunity for reviewing my wife's calendar with her, adding things to my Palm Desktop calendar and to her paper calendar, and just getting some of our family ducks in a row. I'll then have all that information to consider in my Friday afternoon weekly reviews. So, our systems may differ, but this may be a way to get them to work together productively. (I've suggested to my wife I would help her set up a paper-based planner/organizer using David's suggestions, but she's declined so far . . .)

Comment

So, it accomplished the results I needed, helped me get ducks in a row for my weekly review, and provided some quality, low stress planning and discussion time for me and my wife (and our son, who chimed in as well). Even my 15-year-old daughter, who was in another room working on her computer on school stuff, heard what we were doing and came out to add some things to our calendars and discuss a project she and a couple of other kids at school are doing together (and which is now going to be done at our house). Advanced the balls on a lot of fronts.